Lilith
by words2live
Summary: It's S5 but better! Focused on vampires cross-country, more ass-kicking with Pam, Eric and the rest of the Northman clan - her swear words being the main reason for rating it M - and new characters!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

1. Canada

"Who would've thought that one day I'd make a dish of my own blood!" the chubby, short man murmured under his breath.

"I wish you'd do it in silence, Robert!" his wife said, clearly not interested in the philosophical deepness this discussion might've brought on. "I don't want to get into trouble for your constant complaining."

And by that she meant, she didn't wanna hear no more of it. Eileen, the wife that is, was sitting in a chair with her feet up on another one – her leg was in plaster so it wasn't like she was skiving away. She read the OK! magazine as she was chewing absentmindedly on a chicken leg. The fact that KStew screwed over the lovely RPatt excited her a lot more than her husband's predicament.

"Easy for you to say" Robert said and closed the oven door rather loudly to make his huffy statement clear and audible.

"It's not my fault I don't have the correct blood type now, is it?" Eileen said patiently, without looking up from the pictures of the cheating couple. "Think of the money" she added, as she turned a page.

"What else do you think keeps me here?" he asked and took a leg from the plate for himself as he sat down in front of his wife.

"In two weeks, we'll be off to Hawaii" Eileen said dreamily, putting the magazine down for a while. "It'll be sunny and warm and we'll have cocktails all day long…"

"Brought to us to our hut on the beach…" Robert intersected.

"Miranda will be so jealous when I'll show her the pics!" Eileen said and she tossed her phone to Robert. "She's just texted me that I was a liar."

"The lottery-story was a bit of a stretch anyways."

"Yeah, well, what else did you want me to say? I couldn't possible tell her the truth, now could I?"

Robert groaned but said nothing. Eileen was right. They literally couldn't talk about the source of their holiday money – they were forbidden to mention it.

"Why do you think she didn't just simply glamour us?" he asked his wife, as he picked his second chicken leg. "It would've been just so much easier!"

"But less ethical."

They booth looked up in alarm at the owner of the velvet voice. Robert dropped his chicken leg to the floor in his nervousness and now was on his knees under the table to pick it up. He took his time. No matter how beautiful their employer was, he didn't forget what she was having for dinner.

Eileen stood up quickly and hobbled over to the stove to stir the blood that was slowly cooking on it.

"It's almost ready Miss Cassandra" she mumbled.

"You need more chili" Cassandra ordered and left the kitchen as quickly as she appeared in it.

"It freaks me out when she's doing that!" Robert said as he put some more chili powder into the pot. Eileen sat down on her chair again, happy to have her feet up in a comfortable position again.

"Still wouldn't trade lives with her, not even for all her money" she said, and texted to her sister again about Hawaii. "It sucks being so alone."

2.

Cassandra stood by the fireplace, her beautifully structured face as expressionless as ever. Sometimes she agreed with Eileen. It was mostly a lonely life after all. But it was her own choice, and she could change it any time. She had family: her brother working with her daughter on matter that their world considered important. She smiled affectionately. Maybe it was time to pay them a visit at the Authority's Headquarter. It'd been a while.

She held her fingers closer to the fireplace. It would've been dangerous, fatal even to let the flames reach her pale skin that shone like a fresh pearl in their flickering light. But what was life without a little danger?

Eileen rolled in her dinner, which smelt spicy and hot. Cassandra smiled. Robert kept his distance since she told them she liked his blood type. As if she'd let that filthy skin of his anywhere near her mouth. Ordinarily, she had her food delivered but her usual source was out of B positives so she reluctantly accepted Eileen's offer to use her husband's blood. Cassandra didn't like to mix the roles and she understood how freakishly odd it must've been for Robert to prepare his own blood for dinner. She'd give them a little bonus, she decided on a whim. They'd been very eager to meet her needs.

3.

Cassandra just finished her meal when there was a knock on the door. As Eileen opened it, she saw John, her brother-in-law.

"Can you believe what's happened down south?" he asked and pushed himself away from the doorframe unsteadily. Eileen grimaced.

"Based on your breath I'd say they exported all their rum here!"

John snorted and walked in. He stopped by the living room door.

"Is she in?" he whispered.

Eileen pulled him towards the kitchen by his elbow.

"She can hear you" she whispered back.

John attempted to touch his nose by his index finger to indicate his understanding but groaned instead because his finger unfortunately landed in his eye.

Robert welcomed his brother less enthusiastically than usual. He would've wanted to go to bed already. He expected some good loving from his wife; he'd earned it today after all. But when John was this drunk, it was impossible to stop him.

"You know how we read about witches and vampires and stuff when we were young?" he slurred heavily. "It's all true, bro, it's all true!"

Eileen put a can of beer on the table for each of them pretending to be interested. The longer John kept up with his nonsense, the more likely it was that Robert would fall asleep as soon as they hit the bed. She was not in the mood for any rolling around today.

"My mate has a friend in New Orleans and he said that witches were seen there! Real witches, bro! They fought against vampires! It's true!" John said nodding enthusiastically. It was hard to figure which side he supported more.

4.

Cassandra sat down in front of the system of computers she had installed in her study. The human and his story did not interest her one bit. She looked at the four screens with a little pride: a lot of the programs were her design. Well, she had a bit of a help from Molly who created the security system in the Authority's Headquarter. What a genius that girl had always been, Cassandra thought, they were lucky with her.

She'd just started to work on the utilisation of vector vertex weight in online trainings when one of her monitors blanked with blue lines running amok. Cassandra pressed the keyboard frantically, clicking faster with her mouse than a human eye could ever see but no matter what she tried, it didn't help. Giving up with an annoyed sigh, she signed into a chatprogram.

"Molly, I need your help."

"Bless you, Cassie, we're bored out of our minds today"

Mollie's reply came just as quickly.

"No juicy surveillance videos today?"

The security system covered just about every room in the complex. With so many vampires in close quarters, something scandalous was always bound to happen.

"Not yet but I'll let you know."

Molly wasn't serious of course. Security was of outmost importance for every government but the Authority valued secrecy even more.

"I'll give you access for distant control, Mole. Would check screen 3 for me?"

Cassandra watched as her screen obeyed the commands from thousands of miles away. It still amazed her at what an unbelievable rate technology developed in the last two centuries. It was one of her better ideas to convince Roman and the others to share their inventions with humans whose shorter lifespan made them work more feverishly, albeit less focused. Granted, they made huge mistakes, too, she thought as her eyes wandered to the photo of the handsome man she kept on her desk. Szilard's bomb went disastrous, killing all vampires in the Japanese Islands and the north-eastern coast of Asia. But they worked sedulously to turn it to a controllable energy source later on. He tried everything he could to prevent the Chernobil disaster, melting into the true death on the site himself. Cassandra still missed him: he had an amazing mind and he was the best partner she could've ever wanted.

Her screen flickered and it changed into a set of video streams for about 20 seconds. Cassandra leaned closer and froze.

"Sorry" Molly wrote her in the chat "I accidentally connected you to the surveillance cameras."

"I noticed" she wrote back. "A glitch?"

"We've had some of those recently."

But it wasn't the question of security that worried Cassandra. It was her progeny on one of the cameras. She was in the room with Lilith's blood. In the room that Roman had promised to be kept closed all the time. Even for his chancellors. That was their deal. But her daughter somehow got in, and took a woman with her, whose face was vaguely familiar. This was bad news. The Authority, maybe even Roman himself was in great danger. She had to go there. She couldn't leave him alone. Cassandra jumped up from her chair.

She needed a plan. She couldn't just walk in and expect everything to be forgotten. No, she'd need a friend. And she had a good idea where to find one.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

5. Louisiana

Molly slowly counted to 1-2-3 when the cameras appeared on Cassandra's screen. She then quickly disconnected them. That should be enough. She couldn't risk more with so many vampires in the house who had nothing better to do than to watch each other.

"Sorry," she typed in the chat window, "I accidentally connected you to the surveillance cameras."

"I noticed" Cassie replied, and Molly felt much relieved. She might've been going out on a whim here, but she had the feeling that Cassie didn't only mean the cameras in general. A several millennia old vampire was surely quick enough to see all that those videos showed.

"A glitch?"

Molly pondered on her reply a bit. Cassie needed to know the seriousness of the situation (and she was sure it wasn't just her mind playing). Salome and Nora had been visiting the vault for quite some time now and Molly noticed how much they've changed.

"We've had some of those recently" she typed in finally. She was a supervisor in security, she knew when to be suspicious. For now, there was nothing else she could do. The balls were in Cassie's court now. But Molly was optimistic: Cassandra had a history of winning the games in the end.

6. Canada

John woke up with a pain in his back and a loud banging in his head. He moaned as he sat up on the bench of Cassandra's kitchen. In a large house like this, they should have a much comfier seating, he thought. His head was spinning. Maybe he had drunk too much this time. But even the usually scornful Eileen gave him at least two cans of beer, so he mustn't have been that bad, now had he? He stood up slowly, keeping a tight grip on the table to help him balance. Nah, he didn't overdo it, he was quite alright, he thought. But he needed coffee, lots of strong coffee, and soon. Like now. Looking around, he noticed the fancy coffee-maker, its aluminium parts sparking an invitation at him. Why not, John thought, let's try it.

"Yay!" he said a little too loud for his headache when he found the machine was already prepared. He pushed the big, red switch and fell onto the closest chair. Mornings were too exhausting.

When he finished his coffee, he felt much more confident to keep his eyes open.

"Where's everyone?" he thought, the smell of the coffee should've woken up the whole house. Maybe not the blood-sucker, he added with a scorn. He was debating whether to leave or wait for others when he noticed the envelope on the table. It was addressed to Eileen and Robert but it wasn't closed. Well, it wasn't closed completely, he thought, so same difference.

Opening the envelope, he found it filled with American dollars.

"Typical" he murmured. The bitch didn't realize they were in Canada. Still, it was a lot of money, he thought. There was a short letter as well, saying that Cassandra left and didn't know when she'd be back but she appreciated all their services so she was leaving them a bit of a bonus. John made a quick decision: he took the bulk of the money, closed the envelope with the rest and left the house .

7. Louisiana

Pam had a fucking bad day. Again. Eric still kept his grudge with her because she wanted to save his ass by blowing up the house of the witch that was on to kill all vampires in the areas. And why the huff? Because the precious little whitetrash of a pussy was in there, too. That Sookie Stackhouse brought them nothing but bad luck.

She shifted in his armchair that overlooked the whole bar. Fangtasia was buzzing with its usual crowd: vampires, curious little humans, fangers and fangbangers. This whole voluntary business of exchanging blood (and other bloody fluids) made her sick. But it'd made them excellent money, she shouldn't complain. Who would've thought that after all these years she'd end up being in a brothel again.

When the tall, brown-headed woman entered, Pam noticed the difference immediately: she had an ancient air around her that made all the vampires in the place keep their distance even though she wore a friendly smile as she walked to the bar. She sat down so gracefully that Pam almost could see an army of servants around her, who no question, helped her with every single movement during her early days.

The little princess ordered a drink before she looked around, taking the whole scene in. She watched the woman carefully. She didn't drink her True Blood. Pam was sure she didn't come here for a pull or a suck. It was time to take things into her hands.

"What do you want?" she asked the visitor, appearing by her side. The woman took her in in a split-second, Pam noticed, and felt her tension increase. She knew the type and she fucking had enough of sissies like this looking down at her!

"Straight to the point" the woman remarked with a warm smile. Her sparkling blue eyes shone at her with curiosity instead of condemn. "You must be Pam. I'm Cassandra, an old friend of Godric's."

She offered her hand and Pam reluctantly shook it. What to make of this?

"Are you still Eric's only progeny?" Cassandra asked.

"None of your business" Pam barked back, even though it felt good to be known as the only vampire Eric Northman had ever made. Cassandra hid a smile.

"Is he around? I need to speak to him" she replied with a smile. "It's of personal matter."

Pam honestly had enough of women appearing at her bar, wanting to speak to Eric "of personal matters". As if she didn't know what it meant.

"He's busy at the moment" she said, and decided to walk away.

"When does this bar close?" Cassandra added before she had time to leave her.

"Why?" Pam became suspicious.

"I was thinking we all could have a little chat. You could all come around, I'm renting this house just a couple miles south."

She handed her a card with the address on it.

"It's a lovely, quiet place and we could talk there in private, away from this chaos" she said, dismissing the clamour of the bar with a graceful gesture.

"Are you from the Authority?" Pam asked curiously.

"Oh, no, not at all" the woman said laughing. "Please, make Eric come with you, will you?"

Pam watched the woman walking out of the bar, her elegance as out of place as it could be, and played with the card absentmindedly. Cassandra was definitely interesting, and both her and Eric could use a night away from the bar. But what the heck did she want?

8.

Cassandra didn't like straight True Blood. Even warmed up it felt too raw, too artificial. But with the appropriate spices it was an interesting dish, one that was worth to experiment with, and oh, did she like experimenting with her food! Mixing, adding and even creating flavours was so much better than biting into a dirty skin. Drinking the same human blood decades after decades quickly made her bored and killing was as easy as it was pulling out of the wings of a fly. It never was such a passionate, crazy hobby for her as it'd been for her maker and her brothers. She was born an aristocrat and she stayed one throughout the centuries.

Her guests might have dined differently but in Cassandra's house meals were sophisticated and prepared creatively. The dining table wasn't a prop, and her dishes were never served raw. Or alive, as even some of the other royals allowed. He had of centuries of practice to be a snob, and she never felt ashamed of it.

The best luxury she had was the only vampire wine in the world and she kept the recipe a well-guarded secret. A bottle was already by the fireplace, waiting for her guests. She needed their help after all, so some pampering would be in due course, and this wine was perfect for that. Only her vampire servants were left around for the dinner – she knew Eric was a "mainstreamer" as they called it nowadays, but Pamela looked too raw and Cassandra didn't want to test those vampire instincts too much.

Her guests kept her waiting longer than she'd expected. Cassandra was reading Shelley's Frankenstein in her favourite armchair but didn't pay complete attention. But when she saw Eric, her little annoyance disappeared. He looked worse than she'd ever seen him and in an obvious need for a good time. Cassandra greeted both him and Pamela with a warm hug. She pricked her ears for a moment but obviously Godric was not coming tonight.

"Good to see you, please sit down!" she said, showing them to the comfortable sofa by the fire. She sat back to the armchair she'd been reading in.

"Your bar seems very popular" she told them, carefully addressing both her guests.

"It's pathetic, isn't it?" Eric answered as Pamela placed herself into the position of an observer. Cassandra laughed.

"Darling, I remember your days at Whilton's, don't forget!"

Eric's genuine smile made her content; this was what she wanted to achieve with her guests: relaxing.

"I was the pathetic then, wasn't I?" Eric said jokingly. "Though you weren't better either! Remember the poor little man you kept bothering with recipes and the sources of different spices and whatnot!"

"Joe Diego? Of course I remember! He was a genius, Eric, a natural genius!" Cassandra said and turned to Pamela. "I'm kind of a spice-snob, you'll see!" she explained it to the quiet woman.

"I hope you learnt to limit the number of dishes after all these years!" Eric said "She used to have these dinners with like a thousand bowls, all blood with one spice or the other and would feel offended if you didn't try them all!" he explained to Pamela.

"Do you think that's why people stopped coming?" Cassandra asked good-heartedly.

"I think it had a lot to do with you living in the middle of nowhere up north!" Eric replied. "Do you still have that palace of yours in Canada?"

The dinner went on in good humour and it was good to pick up where they left off with Eric. Cassandra noticed that even Pamela had one or two genuine laughs during the dinner which must've been an achievement in her world.

When they were back in the living room, Cassandra poured them wine.

"The infamous Casso, is it?" Eric asked and Cassandra smiled. The name was Eric's invention.

Pamela looked at her glass hesitantly but when she had her first gulp she looked at Cassandra surprised.

"What is this?" she asked. Cassandra shook her head.

"I'm sorry but it's a trade secret!" she said and they all took time to sip the spicy liquid.

"You must really want something from us" Eric joked. Cassandra put her glass down and looked deep into Eric's eyes.

"I do, Eric. I need an enormous favour, and I know you won't want to do it at first. But hear me out."

Eric nodded and Pamela looked nervous again.

"I talked to Salome today and I really think Roman's in danger. I need to go the headquarters."

"Since when are you guys talking again?" Eric asked thoughtfully.

"We're not. Roman's still not forgiven me. That's why I need to go there personally and see it with my own eyes" Cassandra explained.

"How do you think we can help? I don't have any good side with them, Cassie."

Cassandra took a deep breath.

"I know you don't. But Godric does."

Eric stood up and Pamela put her glass down, sitting up tensely.

"He's dead" Eric said quietly, his back towards the room. Cassandra walked up to him and put her hand on his shoulder gently.

"He's dead to the world, I get that. And I respect that, Eric, I really do. But I need him. Please, ask him to come out of his hiding for me. He has his ways with Roman and all the others respect him…"

Eric shook her hand off his shoulder and turned to face her. His face was conjured in pain and his eyes full of bloodtears.

"Don't you think I need him, too? Don't you think I'm lost without Godric's guidance? But he's gone, Cassie, he's gone. He's not 'dead to world' as you say, he's met the True Death!"

Cassandra slowly sat down to the coffeetable.

"But… No. I talked to him after the explosion, Eric, he was alive!"

Eric turned back to the fire. The heavy silence was broken by Pamela.

"He didn't die in the explosion as the official record says. He walked in the Sun."

Cassandra looked at her in horror. She understood what it meant. Godric wasn't in hiding like she'd thought. He chose his death. He didn't want to live any more. He was gone and she didn't even know. He never said good-bye, he never even told her he was so unhappy. One of her best friends left without a word, without an explanation, without a sign. It was infuriating to feel that powerless.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

9.

"Godric's… gone? How? You should've been there for him, it was your duty, how could you let him?" Cassandra said, and Pam watched in awe as Eric lunged towards her.

Cassandra lifted up the almost seven-foot-tall Eric like a playdoll. Pam felt her fangs popping straight out and ran over to defend her maker. The stupid bitch just flicked her away with one hand, as if she were some plastic dummy! She bounced back and attacked the vampire again. Cassandra's fangs were out now as well, Pam saw with satisfaction. She turned now all her attention to her, letting Eric go.

But Eric jumped in front of them.

"Leave her alone!" he hissed to Cassandra, pulling Pam close to his back, protecting her.

Cassandra pulled her fangs back immediately. She didn't want to fight Eric, she just wanted to teach him a lesson.

"Godric was my best friend" she said quietly and walked to the fireplace. Pam watched her from behind Eric's back, who still kept his arms by her side.

"And how good a friend were you, Cassandra? Where have you been in the last years when Godric slowly faded away because he felt so guilty for drinking from a human? Were you by his side like his best friend? Did you even call him? Ever?" Eric didn't raise his voice saying that. He spoke so quietly that even the clattering of the wood sounded louder. Pam watched as the muscles in his back tensed so badly that she could've broken her fingernails on them. A snarl left her mouth seeing Eric like that.

"It's none of your business, Northman. I had my duties…" Cassandra said.

"Then don't preach about not being there for Godric or letting him go. There's no-one, absolutely no-one in this world who is more devastated with his absence than I am. So back the fuck off."

Pam still felt fierce but a complete silence came onto her at the same time. She knew exactly what Eric meant. If he were to go, ever, what would her world be like? She moved closer to her maker's protective back.

Cassandra pulled Eric's hand away and Pam looked at her in dismay, fangs still out.

"You're right. I know how much he meant to you Eric. I offer my apologies."

Eric took her into his big arms and Pam backed away, forcing her fangs back. It wasn't a fight she could win. Heck, it wasn't a fight she could even start. Eric's heart was not only hers.

"We need to go" she said when she'd seen enough hugging for one night. "It's almost dawn."

"Please, stay!" Cassandra said, and leaving the safety of Eric's arms, Pam saw the bloodtears that covered her face. She really must've felt sorry for Godric, Pam admitted. Vampire tears don't lie.

10.

Nan Flannigan was driving furiously to Bon Temps to meet the King of Louisiana and his sheriff.

"Putting me on the side, what does this Roman think of himself? I've lived almost twice as much, and been mainstreaming for as long as he had!" she said out loud, talking to herself in the car. She drove much quicker than the speed limit, but that was for humans with their lowly developed reaction and skills, not for an almost 900 years old vampire like her.

She'd made a mistake, she was the first to admit that. She also accepted the fact that she couldn't be the public face of the AVL, the American Vampire League, after she'd been on TV with all the vampires hypnotised by witches to kill humans. It was a very unfortunate accident for both mainstreaming and her, and some sacrifices were bound to be made. And that was fair enough.

"But to throw me out of the Authority?!" she said hitting the wheel as strongly as she could without breaking it. She was not gonna have that. She had plans and she was going to fulfil those plans, even if the Louisiana puppies wouldn't man up. But she'd give them a chance, it all would be a lot easier with their help.

Her phone rang with a Louisiana number right then.

"Nan Flannigan" she answered with professional composure and equanimity.

"Nan, dear, it's Cassie!" the velvet voice replied and Nan allowed herself a non-audible grimace. Now she called her back. She must've already known what was decided, if not through her brother, through her progeny. Nan always felt Cassie was an influential shadow Guardian with these connections.

"How have you been?" Nan asked her, keeping calm and polite.

"Busier than usual I must say. I'm in Louisiana just now, visiting Northman. You remember him?" Cassie said in the same friendly manner they'd always talked. Nan shook her head; she couldn't believe that Cassie wanted to outplay her like this. Well, let's see who was the master in this game then!

"Of course, Eric Northman, the sheriff, tall, blonde, not bad to look at!" she said, teasing the other woman playfully.

"Exactly the one! Where are you, don't you wanna meet up with me tonight? Eric might come around later, too, but he went to Bon Temps to see King Bill" she pronounced the name with an ironic emphasis.

Nan thought about it. What did she know? Would it be better to see Cassie and find out what she was really after or should she stick to the original plan and talk to Eric and Bill first?

"I can't, dear, I'm still in New Orleans. Are you not coming this way, too?" she said, trying to get a feeling of Cassie's intentions.

"I don't really know, Nan. I wanted to talk to you about that, you know the best whether it's a good time for the Authority."

"I wouldn't know any more" Nan said, deciding to test the cards Cassie'd kept so close. "I'm out of the Authority."

"What do you mean you're out? You can't be out just like that!" Cassie said with what sounded like a very good imitation of honest surprise and worry.

"I'm afraid I really am."

"I'm terribly sorry, Nan! You have to come now so that we can talk this over, it's not fair, that whole thing on the TV, it wasn't your fault!"

Nan didn't know what to make of it. She knew Cassie and her brother didn't speak but her not knowing about these decisions at all was simply ridiculous. How could Cassie believe for a moment that she'd fall for all this crap? She had enough of that whole arrogant family. It was over. They would all see what they'd lost when they threw out their biggest weapon: Nan Flannigan.

"I wish I could go, dear," she said in her sweetest voice, "but I've things to do here. Let's catch up when you're here, what do you say?"

"Of course, of course…" Cassie replied and Nan interrupted any further conversation.

"I have to go now, take care, dear."

Nan didn't wait for the answer; she closed her phone and threw it on the passenger seat. Oh, how they were going to regret all this once her plan was to be public! The AVL will be nothing if it depended on her, nothing!

11. Canada

"Curious little humans, so possessed by possessions! So afraid of the magnificence of the natural world around them! Distancing themselves with walls, glass and concrete, building a new world, as if this one weren't good enough. Always building, always collecting, always wanting more. Look at them carrying all that stuff out of one house, into that car and no question, into another house! And what are they getting in return? How's that making any difference?"

"Is that why we live in the woods?"

"That's exactly it."

Colin was rather happy with Laverne's development. It was a long road: he had made mistakes before with his progenies but the girl understood what it meant to be vampires like them. The freedom to live their lives the way it was meant to didn't come easy to him but Colin was happy to share this knowledge so that others could follow the enlightened way.

"Nothing happens without a reason; everybody has a place in the natural harmony of life" Laverne murmured.

Colin looked at her proudly. His own words had a different rhythm as she spoke them adding another layer to their meaning. But she needed to take a step further. Was she ready for it?

"Uncle Robert…" she whispered. "He has not found his place yet. He's a good man, really. He used to come to visit me with every foster family I had. I never knew this is how he got the money for all those gifts."

"He doesn't know who's he against. A vampire queen like Cassandra will not tolerate that. Does it worry you?"

Colin turned to read Laverne's face. It wasn't easy to leave a life behind, no matter how shallow or unhappy it was. It was all she knew. Laverne looked into his eyes.

"I can't take responsibility for his decisions. He lives his life and I live mine. I wish he chose differently. But there's nothing I can do for him."

Colin stroked her face.

"Remember, a vampire only fights for…"

"…her beliefs not for others." Laverne finished the sentence. "There's nothing I want to do for him, Colin. I mean it."

She turned back to the site below them.

"Is it true that the castle was built by Cassandra in the first place?" she asked.

"I don't know. It might be. But it's all wrong. Why would a vampire need a castle? We don't need such protection. We fight our battles" he explained.

"We win them" Laverne added. Colin smiled at her naïveté.

"We're not indestructible, Laverne. Nothing is. Everything comes and goes."

"But we won't change. I'll always be this strong and this fast, won't I?" Laverne asked him.

"The longer you live, the stronger you are."

Laverne was pleased with the idea. They watched from the under the trees as the luxurious furniture was packed on the trucks haphazardly. Antique chairs and sofas were thrown over each other without proper care in a feverish hurry.

"That's how they live their life every day, grabbing as much as they can in a limited period of time. Running around for the single purpose of accumulating through no matter what means. What we see is the coward way of thinking 'the easier the better'. This lazy, indolent approach will be the doom of mankind" Colin said, leaning against a tree.

"Isn't that for the better?"

Colin turned Laverne to face him, and put his hands on her shoulder.

"No. This is very important child. Listen to me. You know our ways. You've come to grow in it. Isn't that right?"

Laverne nodded, drinking his words, focusing on the meaning. She was an excellent learner so far and Colin knew this was a turning point for both the student and the teacher.

"We are here to show the way. Leading by example will turn the world around. We won't have that any more" he pointed at the castle, "but we'll have this!" Colin turned the girl to face the ancient trees in the forest. "The whole world will live as they're supposed to: animals, humans and vampires back to nature. We'll all share this life together, we'll all live in harmony. Do you believe that?"

Laverne took his hand and pressed it against her heart.

"I believe it, Colin. I'll be at your side to fight for it and will watch it with you when it happens. In harmony, together."

Colin drew her closer and kissed her passionately.

"In harmony, together" he whispered into her mouth and showed what he meant with his body feeling the warmth of the sun inside and outside their naked skin.


End file.
